#705 Christian Miller - Honesty: The Philosophy and Psychology of a Neglected Virtue
RECORDED ON AUGUST 25th 2022.
Dr. Christian B. Miller is the A. C. Reid Professor of Philosophy at Wake Forest University. His research is primarily in contemporary ethics and philosophy of religion. He has written for the Wall Street Journal, Dallas Morning News, Slate, Prospect Magazine, Relevant Magazine, Michael Hyatt Magazine, The Conversation, Newsweek, Aeon, Greater Good Magazine, Nautilus Magazine, Fathom Magazine, Institute of Art and Ideas, and Christianity Today. He’s the author of several books, the most recent one being Honesty: The Philosophy and Psychology of a Neglected Virtue.
In this episode, we focus on Honesty. We start by discussing what makes something a virtue, and what honesty is. We talk about behaviors that are incompatible with honesty, with a focus on lying, cheating, and stealing. We also talk about cases where there is conflict with other moral values. We discuss who counts as an honest person, and we get into contextual factors and intentionality. We refer to the particular cases of promise-making, and omission. We ask if one can be too honest. We go through some psychological studies on honesty, environmental factors, and possible interventions to promote it. Finally, we discuss if the virtues have been neglected in Philosophy.
Time Links:
Intro
What makes something a virtue?
What is honesty?
Conflict with other moral values
Who counts as an honest person?
Contextual factors
Intentionality
The case of promise-making
Omission
Can one be too honest?
Psychological studies on honesty
Are people honest, in general?
Environmental factors, and interventions to promote honesty
Have the virtues been neglected in Philosophy?
Follow Dr. Miller’s work!
Follow Dr. Miller’s work:
Our first interview: https://youtu.be/k_Cr4J7fAbY
Faculty page: https://bit.ly/3vfpqyY
Website: https://bit.ly/3zAQoE8
PhilPeople page: https://bit.ly/3PYPSVt
Honesty: https://amzn.to/3OAd1wy
Twitter handle: @CharacterGap